PETALUMA, Calif. — Vice Adm. Vivien S. Crea, vice commandant of the U. S. Coast Guard, and a host of senior Coast Guard leaders, local officials and industry representatives officially dedicated a new high-tech training facility at the Coast Guard’s training center here today.
The building’s dedication is a milestone in the service’s ongoing C4ISR training initiative, a key element in the Coast Guard’s $24 billion, 25-year “Deepwater” modernization and recapitalization plan.
C4ISR – which stands for command, control, computers, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance – encompasses a wide range of technical and operational functions, systems, and activities and leverages Coast Guard technology to the interoperable intelligence and communications standards of the Department of Defense and government first responders.
“We’re proud to add advanced shipboard operations training to our already acclaimed technical and support schools,” said Capt. Brian Marvin, commanding officer of the training center. “We’re proud of our performance-based standards, where students learn on the very latest equipment used in our fleet. Students trained in the Calhoun building will join thousands of shipmates trained at Training Center Petaluma every year to protect and serve the American public.”
The facility was named in honor of the service’s first senior enlisted advisor to the commandant, the late Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, Charles L. Calhoun. Calhoun retired in 1973 and lived for many years in nearby Santa Rosa, Calif. A World War II veteran, he had more than 30 years of Navy and Coast Guard service, including 14 years at sea. One of his most lasting contributions, clearly evident in the crowd of more than 1,000, was the implementation of distinctive blue Coast Guard uniforms to replace the previous versions based on Navy wear.
Members of Calhoun’s family also attended, as did current Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles “Skip” Bowen, along with several other retired master chief petty officers of the Coast Guard.
Known simply as “Building 500,” the structure served previously as the home of the Coast Guard’s communications school (RM). After a multi-million dollar renovation and outfitting project, the facility now houses classrooms, high-tech shipboard operation simulators and state-of-the-art radar and electronics systems to train crews of the Coast Guard’s new Legend-class national security cutters. The renovation also included space for the training center’s police force and the Coast Guard’s independent duty health services technician school. Plans for further expansions over the next several years will ultimately more than double the size and capacity of the facility.
“This state-of-the-art training facility will provide our Coast Guard and Navy crews the skills and expertise they need to sail our newest, most capable ships into the 21st Century,” Crea said. “It’s most appropriate that we name this building after the Coast Guard’s first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, a pioneer who put the training and welfare of all Coast Guard personnel at the forefront.”
Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma is located on an 800-acre site seven miles west of Petaluma, Calif. Its 600 active duty, civilian and contract employees serve over 4,000 students a year. First established as an Army communications station in 1942, the site has been in Coast Guard hands since 1971. There are over 200 buildings on the base; all major buildings are named for Coast Guard heroes such as Calhoun.
Coast Guard Vice Commandant Vivien Crea and Mrs. Charles Calhoun, widow of the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard, unveil the plaque dedicating the Coast Guard’s newest training facility, named for the late Master Chief.
Mary Calhoun, widow of the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard (right), is assisted by her daughter Sherri Parks (middle), with her husband Bill Parks (far right) looking on as the Coast Guard Vice Commandant Vivien Crea (left) cut the ribbon marking the opening of the newest training facility at Training Center Petaluma, Calif., named for the late Master Chief.
Coast Guard petty officers operate state-of-the-art equipment in the Coast Guard’s new Command, Control, Computers, Communications Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) training building located at Training Center Petaluma, Calif., which was enveiled here today.
